The Reason Your Team Won’t Take Risks

  Most senior managers agree that taking risks is important for innovation, but in far too many cases, they don’t act like they believe this. For example, one global organization, where one of us conducted a culture survey several years ago, considered itself to be highly supportive of developing new products, services, and practices. Yet when several hundred professionals were asked what would happen if they developed and tried...

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The 5 Big Reasons People Aren’t Following Your Social-Media Accounts

  Social media is a great marketing tool allowing organizations to reach audiences and showcase company culture and what they have to offer. However, many companies aren’t seeing the success on social media they’d like. In fact, a November 2014 survey by HubSpot found that there is a 35 to 65 percent difference between consumers who expect a brand to be on social media and consumers who actually follow a brand on social media....

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You’re Actually Hurting Your Business With These 5 ‘Productive’ Habits

Entrepreneurs are expected to do everything and be everything at all times. It’s part of business, especially when you’re first starting out. However, there are some seemingly productive habits that you may have formed that are actually killing your success in the long term. The candle that burns brightest, burns fastest, and while it’s crucial for you to be productive with your time, you also need to focus on not burning out. Here...

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Use Feedback to Spark, Not Destroy

I was 11 years old and getting the scolding of my life. My dad let me have it because he busted me selling illegal fireworks at school, which obviously was problematic from a parent’s perspective. My entrepreneurial efforts got me in a world of trouble. The resulting punishment included being forced to call the parents of all my customers (fellow classmates), introduce myself, and let them know I sold their kid illegal...

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5 Tips on Planning Amid Rapid Change

Change in the business world is happening quicker than ever before. Does that mean business owners should stop planning? I say uncertainty increases the value of planning. Consider this true story: During the chaotic fall of everything, from August to October of the Great Recession, sales at my company plummeted. Suddenly sales were 30 percent below the same month of the previous year, horribly below the planned level. So did the fact...

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Write a Winning Business Plan With These 8 Key Elements

  For everything in life, you need a plan, right? The same can be said for business. Every business, whether a startup or a full-fledged, profitable organization, needs a business plan. To know where you are going, you have to know where you came from and what came before you. Here are the key elements of a winning business plan. 1. Executive summary. An executive summary is a one- or two-page summary of your entire business...

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Want To Be A Great Leader? Start Acting Weirder

For some reason, leaders struggle to embrace their “inner weirdness.” But if you don’t figure out how to do it, you’ll miss out on one of the simplest ways to strengthen yourteam and build an amazing company culture. When we talk about building weirdness in our team, the ultimate goal is to develop a company with perfect authenticity. Tony Hsieh is a firm believer in this, and it’s allowed him to build...

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Tap Into the Way Your Employees Learn

  There’s ample scientific evidence supporting the idea that constant learning is good for the brain. Marian Diamond, a renowned neuroscientist, says that the brain can actually become sharper and stronger with a little focused effort. With this in mind, implementing a purposeful employee learning initiative at your office can help create sharper, stronger, higher performing brains. For many professionals, continuing...

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Lead Well: How to Avoid Making Your Best People Care Less

    Whether you lead a team of two or 2,000, it’s likely you’ve noticed the value of hiring and retaining capable, self-motivated people. Yet it’s all too common–and completely avoidable–that you inadvertently do little things that may de-motivate your “go to” people in big ways. Here are ten life-tested watch list items to make sure that as a leader, you’re not making your...

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Conflict Among Team Members Can Lead to Better Results

It turns out conflict isn’t always bad. In fact, psychologically it can be extremely positive, especially in a team environment. In reality, conflict exists as a natural and inevitable part of every relationship. And the only way to break free of a negative dynamic within a team is to confront it. Because most people fear conflict, team members engage in repressing their anger and frustration, avoid a person or people threatening the...

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